James Hisbadhorse Sentenced in U.S. District Court
| U.S. Attorney’s Office October 26, 2011 |
The United States Attorney’s Office announced that during a federal court session in Billings, on October 26, 2011, before Chief U.S. District Judge Richard F. Cebull, JAMES HISBADHORSE, age 44, formerly of Lame Deer, appeared for sentencing. HISBADHORSE was sentenced to a term of:
Prison: 360 months, consecutive to a Washington sentence
Special Assessment: $200
Supervised Release: life
HISBADHORSE was sentenced in connection with his guilty plea to aggravated sexual abuse and abusive sexual contact.
In an offer of proof filed by Assistant U.S. Attorney Marcia K. Hurd, the government stated it would have proved at trial the following:
In April 2006, an 11-year-old girl disclosed that she had been sexually abused by her mother’s boyfriend, HISBADHORSE. She described a continuing course of conduct of sexual acts during the time he lived in their house from April 2005 through April 2006. Her younger sister also disclosed sexual abuse by HISBADHORSE, consisting of sexual contact during the same time period. The children made the same disclosures during a medical exam, as well as during interviews; both were under the age of 12 at the time of the offenses.
HISBADHORSE was questioned in Spokane, Washington, where he was in prison serving time for sexually abusing two other children. He admitted sexually abusing the oldest child on two separate occasions while drunk, but denied the allegations of the younger child. The events took place within the exterior boundaries of the Northern Cheyenne Indian Reservation.
Because there is no parole in the federal system, the “truth in sentencing” guidelines mandate that HISBADHORSE will likely serve all of the time imposed by the court. In the federal system, HISBADHORSE does have the opportunity to earn a sentence reduction for “good behavior.” However, this reduction will not exceed 15 percent of the overall sentence.
The investigation was a cooperative effort between the Federal Bureau of Investigation and the Bureau of Indian Affairs.